19 June - 23 June

Councillor Amrit Mann, Deputy Leader of Hounslow, gives us an insight into his week....

Monday 19 June

Like everyone, I was shocked and saddened to hear of the terror attack in Finsbury Park in the early hours of this morning.

Another senseless attack and our condolences are with the victims and their families and friends.

Again, the show of unity in our communities certainly outweighs the division which the perpetrators are trying to cause. In Hounslow, I am proud to say that we are a diverse and tolerant Borough, where we have people living and working alongside each other from a diverse range of cultures and faiths.

Today I was busy with a variety of casework. We are working to achieve a 50% recycling target and to support this, we are in the middle of rolling out the new recycling boxes to all our residents in houses. Red and blue boxes are being delivered across the Borough, please watch out for your delivery and your information leaflet on what you can and cannot recycle. Read our latest press release.

I also dealt with enquiries on garden waste and missed collections, and I was speaking with council staff to understand the root cause of the issues that some of our residents were experiencing.

Tuesday 20 June

While we are all enjoying the beautiful sunshine this week, we have been checking that the intense heat is not affecting the surfaces of our roads and pavements and we will be following up any concerns raised by residents on this matter.

Today's casework focused on parking and road surfaces in the borough, including the Chiswick and Hounslow areas.

Following the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower, the council has been working to provide support to Kensington and Chelsea whilst also providing reassurance to our own tenants who live in high-rise properties.

Hounslow and other London boroughs‎ are contributing resources to ensure a comprehensive humanitarian assistance is available. This includes support in managing and staffing the Community Assistance Centre; running a helpline; providing mental health and wellbeing support; providing help and guidance on housing and temporary accommodation; co-ordinating donations and help in kind.

I would like to thank all staff from the Council who are involved and our thoughts remain with the victims and all those affected by this terrible incident.

Information for tenants and leaseholders of the safety of the council's housing stock, in particular, of our high-rise properties can be found here.

Later I joined the Mayor of Hounslow, Councillor Sue Sampson and Mary Harpley, our Chief Executive for an afternoon tea in the Mayor's parlour, to celebrate loyal service of our council staff. We recognised those staff with 20 years of local authority service.

I would like to congratulate all the staff and thank them for the hard work they do, it is certainly appreciated.

Wednesday 21 June

I dealt with various enquiries and messages which included questions on bulk waste collections. Later I attended the Hounslow Together Board meeting and discussions included the work being done on looking at new strategies for the borough.

Thursday 22 June

This morning I attended the Hounslow Leadership Group meeting to speak to the senior managers at the council and to answer their questions. I got a bit of a grilling I don't mind saying!

The rest of the afternoon was spent dealing with on-going casework and calls that came in regards to various issues such as parking and traffic. I will be looking to visit areas along with council staff to where residents have raised concerns over the coming weeks.

Friday 23 June

This morning I attended a West London Waste Authority meeting.

The rest of the day included picking up messages and calls coming in as well as checking the status of progress on casework I have been working on.

We hope that warm weather does continue into the weekend. If that is the case, I hope you get a chance to go out and enjoy the sunshine.

Remember to check on elderly relatives and neighbours in the heat and check that children are kept cool. Visit the NHS website for more details.

As ever, stay calm but vigilant and if you see anything that causes you concern or raises your suspicions, please call the Counter Terrorism Policing number 0800 789 321 or in an emergency 999.